It is a well-known fact that the Pokémon franchise is a huge one, with anime, manga, video games, wonderful toys, and perfect gift ideas making the pocket monsters famous throughout the world. However, the most popular element of the franchise has to be the Pokémon Trading Card Game. With a wide range of cards to choose from, decks to construct, and a fun and engrossing gameplay, PTCG has become a crowd favorite since the time of its release.
With that in mind, a reason the trading card game so famous is that players have the option of winning a game via various means. With cards having special abilities and powers, it is no surprise that PTCG has become so entertaining for fans. One such card that the decks' support is the Trainer Cards, also known as Supporter Cards.
These cards allow a player to recover cards from the discard pile, draw them, or even look through their decks for specific cards that the Trainer Card allows. All-in-all, they are extremely powerful, and, therefore, players are limited to using them only once every turn. However, there are many supporters to choose from, and thereby, ranking the most powerful can prove to be quite tough. Nevertheless, some Trainer Cards rank superior to others and can be considered the most powerful in the PTCG universe.
Pokémon Center Lady
Keeping a pokémon from fainting is one of the prime priorities that a player needs to assure if he/she is to win the game. If a pokémon faints, the player loses Prize Cards as a result. The opponent will win if he/she has won six Prize Cards in a game.
Therefore, the Pokémon Center Lady Trainer Card, better known to anime fans as Nurse Jay, is a brilliant resource to have up the sleeve when evolving or retreating are not an option, and the player’s pokémon has received considerable damage. This Trainer Card allows players one of the best strategies to recover in PTCG by healing 60 damage, as well as any Special Condition on any one of the pokémon chosen by the player.
Battle Compressor
Battle Compressor is a Trainer Card that has revolutionized the way PTCG is played, and it can be argued vehemently that the game would have been much different had this Trainer Card not existed.
It is a card that is suitable for all kinds of decks and allows the player to increase their drawing capacity by discarding the cards from their hands that they would not need. Furthermore, combining this card with the likes of Junk Arm with unlimited or VS Seeker makes it even more powerful.
Junk Arm
Junk Arm is a Trainer Card that is allowed in play only in the Legacy formats of PTCG, but it’s a shame since this card is immensely powerful and does not weaken the player’s gameplay in any manner.
Apart from allowing the player to free his hand of two unnecessary cards, Junk Arm further allows him/her to choose a Trainer Card from the discard pile, although it cannot be another Junk Arm. It further lets him/her use that Trainer as per his/her convenience, at another time during the game. It also helps the player setup plays that might help him/her win in the succeeding moments of the game.
Volkner's Philosophy
Volkner’s Philosophy is a Trainer Card that works in a similar manner as the Birch and Bianca Trainer Cards but differs in the sense that it also allows the player to discard a card from his/her hand. It is the perfect card to play after the player has finished a big turn and needs to draw useful cards to setup upcoming plays.
It not only refreshes the hand, but it also allows the player to forego cards he/she doesn’t want. Owing to the fact that it adds cards to the discard pile, the player may also later use cards in the game which allows him/her to recover discarded cards and use the same to benefit his/her play.
Virbank City Gym & Hypnotoxic Laser
While there are Trainer Cards in PTCG which are used by themselves, there are some that work best when used in combination, and one such deadly combination is that of Virbank City Gym and Hypnotoxic Laser. While Trainer Cards cannot deal damage in the trading card game, these two cards allow players to device new styles of gameplay, whereby pokémon with low damage potential can also land massive blows and help the player win games.
While Hypnotoxic Laser poisons the opponent's Active pokémon and possibly also puts it to sleep, Virbank City Gym levies two damage counters on all poisoned pokémon, which in this unfortunate or fortunate circumstance is that of the opponent. Upon the release of these two Trainers, players from all around the world started making space in their decks to incorporate and utilize them in innovative gameplays.
Scott
To win a game of PTCG relying on Trainers and Supporters is usually crucial, and, to make such a paradigm viable, it is important for the player to have those cards in his/her hand. Pokémon trainer Scott allows players to draw up to three cards from their decks in any combination of Stadium and Trainer cards, show it to the opponent, put it in his/her hand, and then shuffle the deck.
Since the player has the option of choosing the cards, he/she can select exactly those that he/she needs to aid his/her gameplay. While the Trainer Cards can only be played in the following turn, the Stadium Cards can be put into play right away.
Steven
Similar to Scott, but more useful, Steven allows the player to search his/her deck and select a supporter as well as a Basic Energy Card and put the same in his/her hand. While many decks don’t rely much on Stadium cards, all decks rely on Energy Cards and supporters, thereby making Steven more useful than Scott.
This card not only allows the player to search the deck for important cards, but it also allows him/her to search the deck for cards he/she would definitely need.
Kiawe
Kiawe is the perfect Trainer Card for Fire-based decks and should be used during the game’s early stages to give the player the upper hand. While it does end the player’s turn upon use, it allows him/her to search the deck for four Fire energy-cards and attach the same to one of his/her pokémon, which can also increase to five, if the player has already attached the one energy he/she is allowed to attach to a pokémon per turn.
This opens up all the big attacks for the pokémon during the game’s early stages and also allows the player to search for other supporters now that the energy requirements have been more than satisfied.
Lysandre
Lysandre is a card for strategists and works especially well against opponents who have weak supporter pokémon in their decks. This card is perfect for disrupting the opponent’s gameplay, stalling him/her, and even clinching victory by setting up kills on benched pokémon that have been weakened by the use of prior bench snipes.
This Trainer Card allows players to earn easy Prize Cards without putting in much effort, and, combining it with VS Seeker, Lysandre transforms into an unstoppable beast.
Professor Sycamore & Professor Juniper
Professor Juniper and Professor Sycamore are identical cards, but legal in different formats of the game, and, therefore, players can use them depending on which version of PTCG they are playing. Furthermore, they resemble the original 1999 Professor Oak card in almost every way. These two cards are extremely useful in the sense that they allow the player to discard their entire hand and draw seven fresh cards.
In a game where discarding increases the probability of getting the card that a player really needs to up the ante, and where drawing increases the chances of achieving that, Professor Juniper and Sycamore are nothing short of angels. However, players should also remember to attach energy and bench their pokémon before using these Trainers, lest they wish to utilize freshly drawn cards right away.